Physics
Scientific paper
May 1994
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1994natur.369..294d&link_type=abstract
Nature, Volume 369, Issue 6478, pp. 294-296 (1994).
Physics
51
Scientific paper
THE magnitude of the intergalactic infrared radiation field (IIRF) is of fundamental importance to investigations of the evolution of galaxies. Bursts of star formation, which seem to be critically important to galaxy evolution, are characterized by large infrared luminosities1, yet we have little knowledge of the frequency and intensity of starbursts in the early Universe. Unfortunately, direct observational determinations of the IIRF are plagued by the difficulty of separating the extragalactic emission from Galactic foreground radiation and the zodiacal light in the Solar System, and have so far produced only upper limits that are far above theoretical expectations2. We have previously proposed3 a way to use ground-based observations of high-energy γ-rays to probe the IIRF, and here we apply our method to the spectrum4,5 of the BL Lac object Mrk421. The intensity we derive for the IIRF is consistent with the conversion of at least 30% of the energy from stellar nucleosynthesis to infrared radiation, both from emission by cool stars and as a result of absorption and re-emission by interstellar dust grains.
de Jager Ocker C.
Salamon Michael H.
Stecker Floyd W.
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